Friday, February 3, 2012
Restaurants Charry but not so snappy
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 4:22 PM
All of the sausages are made locally by Wienerz Butcher Shop & Deli in Marietta. Since my three friends all ordered bratwurst ($3.95), I didn't get to sample much of the menu. I give the brat a B-, while my somewhat spicy chicken sausage ($3.95) earned an A- rating.
Expect to be tripped-up by the usual hazard here — the impulse to pile a dog with multiple toppings, some free and some 75 cents or less. That just about completely eclipses the actual taste of the sausage and requires using a knife and fork.
I chose just two toppings, spicy mustard and grilled bell peppers (35 cents) — quite a nice, complementary combo. I also ordered a basket of crispy hand-cut fries ($2) and a creamy vanilla milkshake ($2.99).
Of course, no hot dog commentary is trustworthy without using the two de rigueur words: "snap" and "char." Since I didn't order the "all natural beef frank," I can't fully evaluate the snappiness. My grilled peppers were indeed charry, but the sausage itself was only mildly so. Y'all get to work on that.
Food media Is Paula Deen a monster in a morality play?
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 2:00 PM
Like most, Bruni commends Paula for making her disease known but also cringes because she timed the announcement to promote her son's new cooking show. The delay also gave her time to seal a deal as the public face of a new, expensive diabetes drug. Still, Bruni notes:
That’s a profound, unsettling act of withholding. But it’s mirrored by many smaller, less calculated, more innocent ones in the world of food celebrities and food celebrators, including those of us who have written orgiastic accounts of sumptuous dinners. Deen’s revelation jolted me in part because people in the business of peddling gastronomic bliss rarely draw such a bold connection between indulgence and its possible wages.
Boy howdy. In a world obsessed with food, it's a total bummer to hear a chef or critic talking about the awful effects of cooking and eating for cash. Meridith Ford Goldman, former AJC dining critic, was famous for her restraint, as John Kessler noted in a blog post a couple of years ago. He wrote then that health issues in part led him to quit the critic's job (which he resumed after Goldman's departure).
When I first started writing "Grazing," I also wrote a monthly dining column for another magazine, filed weekly reports on WGST Radio, judged a lot of cooking contests, and wrote offbeat dining tours for convention folks. I was in grad school, too, so my time was limited. My obsession with exercise didn't disappear, but I lifted a lot more forks than barbells. When I quit smoking, the needle on my scale went wacky.
I think every person in America should be required to get significantly overweight for a year or so. You'd be amazed at the difference in the way people react to you. At best you're treated like a merry soul. More often, your expanded size makes you conversely invisible. It's a usually unspoken ostracism. And it's a painful lesson in the value of compassion.
When you get back to your normal weight, you may lose pariah status. But, no matter how brief your period of heaviness was, you constantly hear, "You look like you've lost weight." You can hear this for years. It is a true fixation with Americans, who are at once fat-phobic and fat.
I despise her cooking and phony persona, but I think our reaction to Deen's disclosure is also laden with schadenfreude. We've turned her situation into a morality tale that transforms the jolly, fat mama into a devouring, diabetic Mother Kali. Nobody will ever look at her the same way again, but, honestly, isn't she holding up a mirror to the entire country?
Food media Sean Hannity digs McDonald's. Others don't.
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:29 AM
Two days ago, I engaged in one of my favorite masochistic behaviors: listening to Sean Hannity on his radio show.
He was expressing his appreciation of the food at McDonalds (I paraphrase slightly): "McDonald's is not meant for everyday eating — maybe once a week."
Way to go, Sean. That's 52 meals at Ronald McDonald's table.
Speaking of McDonalds, the fast food chain can piss off some people. Caution: lots of foul language:
Tweeters recently slammed McDonald's when it began a social-media ad campaign. The criticism was so voluminous and harsh that McDonald's backed away from Twitterland in a move that has been dubbed "McFail."
Events Weekend Food Events, Feb. 3-5: Super Bowl catering, takeout, and more
Posted by Kelsey Clodfelter on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:15 AM
- James Camp
- DBA Barbecue hosts Meat Week
Loca Luna Sat., Feb. 4. National Pisco Sour Day. In Peru, the first Saturday of February is a celebration of the tart alcoholic beverage Pisco Sour. Loca Luna's has just started offering the beverage. Saturdays are Hips & Salsa nights at Loca Luna, so you can gulp down your Pisco Sour on the dance floor. Details
So Ba Sat., Feb. 4 and Sun., Feb. 5 11:30 a.m. Hangover Helper The Vietnamese restaurant offers a medium bowl of Pho and a Bloody Mary for $10 every Saturday and Sunday. Details
Alon's Bakery and Market Sun., Feb. 5. Super Bowl Takeout. Both locations are offering a special takeout menu. Customers can choose between wings (in a variety of flavors) and burgers. Details
Buffalo's Cafe Sun., Feb. 5. Super Bowl Catering. The restaurant is offering full catering and take-out menus, as well as in-house specials, at all of their locations for Super Bowl Sunday. Options for catering include, wings, wraps, queso dip, and more. Details
The Counter Sun., Feb. 5. The Counter Super Bowl Deal. The Roswell restaurant is offering a custom burger bar on Sunday, and depending on how the game goes, it might be completely free. The owners pledge that, if the 2nd half kickoff is returned for a touchdown, your food will be on the house. Details
Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q Sun., Feb. 5. Super Bowl Catering. The barbecue joint is offering five different catering packages for the Super Bowl with options like brisket and smoked chicken wings. The menu can also be adapted to suit the party's needs. Details
RA Sushi Sun., Feb. 5. Super Platters for Super Bowl Parties. For those who want to forgo the traditional chicken wings on game day, Ra Sushi is featuring five sushi platter options that range in size from 52 to 119 pieces. Platters cost anywhere between $60 and $120. Details
News / Gravy Train Gravy Train: MF Buckhead bites the dust, Waffle House retiring the T-Bone
Posted by Laura Horton on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:10 AM
- James Camp
- MF Buckhead
Also on the AJC blog, Nick Melvin is leaving Rosebud to open his own restaurant. He confirmed this is his plan, but was unable to offer any additional details just yet.
Another casualty in Buckhead, What Now Atlanta breaks the news that Morton’s The Steakhouse closed their Peachtree Road location earlier this week. The downtown Morton’s will remain open.
Waffle House is retiring their classic T-Bone steak. For reals, they are the leading server of T-Bones in the United States! It has been on their menu for 40 years, and they’ll keep it that way until the end of 2012. Another fun fact? The T-bone tradition is a local one. An Avondale Estates “Grill Man" ran out of steak one night and ran to the grocery store to restock. He served up T-Bones and they have been on the menu ever since.
Food media Foodie Buddha is super-nice. Yes, really.
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 9:54 AM
So you think Foodie Buddha was too harsh too soon in his review of Cardamom Hill?
I've got news for you. Foodie Buddha is a super-nice guy.
Check out New York Post dining critic Steve Cuozzo's evisceration of Joanne, opened this week by Lady Gaga's parents, Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta. The chef is the highly acclaimed Art Smith. Cuozzo paid only an opening-night visit when the restaurant had asked the press not to appear.
Of course, Cuozzo anticipated objections to his timing:
Hey, it just opened! Not fair to “review” a place so soon! But the Germanottas, Smith and Gaga herself, with the windiest hype machine east of the Pacific, have been trumpeting the joint for months. For Day One, couldn’t they at least get some people who act like they’ve seen the inside of a restaurant before?
That's one of the milder slams in a review entitled, " You’ll gag on the food at Gaga’s. There's this, for example:
Appetizers took 50 minutes to arrive. Grilled calamari with bitter greens and radicchio were the worst I’ve had in a lifetime of squid-mongering, the salad unseasoned and the calamari like leather.
So, give Foodie Buddha a break. He's a nice guy by the Post's standards.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Food media 'Top Chef' season 9, episode 13
Posted by Debbie Michaud on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 3:58 PM
- Bravo TV/NBC Universal
- PAAAANNNNNCAAKKKKEESS!!!
Everyone had to make pancakes for Pee Wee. Grayson tries to do something "whimsical," so she makes her pancake in the shape of Minnie Mouse? What is this Denny's? I'm surprised she didn't serve it with an 8-oz ribeye. In any case, it's the best pancake Pee Wee's ever had! This makes Grayson happy! Then Pee Wee tastes Sarah's and it's the best pancake he's ever had! And so is everyone's pancake! This makes me laugh so much and I Iove it because everyone relaxes and realizes it's just FUCKING PANCAKES. Edward wins for his crispy pancake bits, which was such a good idea and looked awesome and I want to eat it. Edward will be in Atlanta this weekend and so Ed I'm inviting you over to come cook me breakfast like you did for those B&B folks so nicely. Can't wait!
Twin "koodies" hit Atlanta on culinary tour
Posted by Kelsey Clodfelter on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 3:41 PM
After watching this video of underage twin chefs making an apple tart, one pressing question remains: what sane adult provided two 10-year-olds with chef's knives and a stove and said, "have at it, girls?"
The California twins, Lilly and Audrey Andrews, aim to be the youngest people accepted into the Culinary Institute of America. They have recently gained something resembling national acclaim, appearing on "Good Morning America" in December and teaming up with Cuties Clementines to do a cooking tour of the U.S. According to their blog, they will be making their first stop in Atlanta on Fri., Feb. 10.
So what's the verdict on these "koodies," or kid foodies? There's no doubt they have some kind of culinary chops. Simply by being able to prepare something other than a PB&J, they're miles ahead of just about every other 10-year-old in the country. But something about the way they speak sounds strangely scripted, and they're just a bit too saccharine. If the twins landed a reality TV show, one could only imagine that it would be the "Toddlers in Tiaras" of Food Network.
Even if the whole "kids with sharp objects" thing sends you into a state of panic, try to make it to the highlight of the video at 3:30. I don't want to spoil it, but ..."CHA CHA CHA!"
News Good news for the chick crazy
Posted by Kelsey Clodfelter on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 12:56 PM
Congress is reviewing a proposal for H.R. 3798, legislation that would set national regulations for the living conditions of all egg-laying hens. If passed, our feathery friends could look forward to a ban on forced starvation, a practice that deprives hens of food for up to two weeks to manipulate their hormones, and an increase in laying space. The bill also outlines a new labeling system in which the caged or uncaged status of the mother hen would be printed right on the egg carton. Leah Garcés, USA Director of the Atlanta-based organization Compassion in World Farming, said the following:
This legislation would improve the lives of hundreds of millions of laying hens, who would otherwise be kept in barren, overcrowded cages. This marks the beginning of the end of cruelty to hens in the United States. We saw this happen in Europe. It is only a matter of time before the US follows suit.
Atlanta, an increasingly chicken-centric city, should keep its fingers crossed. In the meantime, local poultry aficionados are keeping themselves busy by raising awareness on the ethics and methods behind urban chicken coops. In September, the Oakhurst Community Garden Project and Georgia Organics held the Urban Coop Tour, which took guests to visit over 20 coops in Decatur, Grant Park, and Virginia-Highland. Now, the Oakhurst Community Garden Project is getting ready for its Chicks In the City Symposium in Oakhurst Village on Sat., Feb. 25, which will provide a full day of classes on the basics of coop culture. And there's always Springer Mountain Farms, the local purveyor of all things chickeny, located in Northeast Georgia.
Restaurants Update: Taquería La Oaxaqueña
Posted by Cliff Bostock on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 11:12 AM
- foursquare.com
In 2008, the restaurant moved to its present, roomier location in Jonesboro. Creative Loafing named it the best Mexican restaurant in Atlanta that year and the next.
I have a particular fondness for the state Oaxaca, especially its mescal-inspired wood carvings (before they became an industry of kitsch). If you have the scary opportunity to visit my home, you'll be greeted by a large Oaxacan statue of a winged demon sticking its enormous tongue out at you. Oaxaca's celebration of Day of the Dead is legendary, although, like the sculpture, it's been unbearably commercialized, too. But you absolutely must check out the Christmastime Night of the Radishes. You're gonna love radish sculptures of saints a lot more than tortilla portraits of Jesus.
None of this seductive locura shows up in the ambiance at Taquería La Oaxaqueña. But the food is for the most part good. Frankly, it's not as good as I remember, but I have a feeling that's an effect of improved Mexican dining around town.
I ordered my usual test of Mexican street food: a plate of chicharrones and a taco of carnitas. I wasn't happy when the server told me there were no chicharrones available that evening. She was delightfully sympathetic, funny and she gave me a chance to practice my Spanish and remember my time in San Miguel de Allende.
I did get the carnitas taco and the chunks of pork were way more authentic than the usual around town, mainly because they had a crispy exterior. I'm not sure they were fully cooked in a skillet, but they'd obviously spent some time in one.
Instead of the chicharrones, I ordered another test of Mexican kitchens — chicken mole. Oaxaca is especially famous for its seven varieties of mole. Making it is a complicated, time-consuming task of blending numerous ingredients. In the US, if you mention mole, most people will immediately say, "Oh, that's the sauce that has chocolate in it." Yes, it can, but most varieties do not.
Even if you do encounter a chocolate-containing black mole, it's a relatively minor note — not the Hershey's over chicken many novices expect. Taquería La Oaxaqueña does indeed serve an almost unbearably rich, black (dark brown?) mole. It is house-made and worthy of "Like Water for Chocolate." A simple dab of the stuff with a rolled tortilla will flood the palate.
Others at the table ordered flautas and a plate of pork al pastor. Sorry, but the latter simply was not the real thing. It was little cubes of pork with al pastor seasonings. It was not Mexico's marinated pork slow-cooked on a vertical rotisserie topped with a hunk of drizzling pineapple. But, honestly, the fake stuff is predominant in most taquerias in the Atlanta area. A notable exception was Zocalo in Grant Park, which closed. And the so-so El Pastor has closed too.
One of the most compelling features of Taquería La Oaxaqueña is its salsa bar, with red sauces of varying colors and piquancy — be careful of the clearly labeled super-hot — plus a startling tomatillo sauce, and all the right condiments.
Dessert was a slice of ultra-dense flan topped with a maraschino cherry.
Still worth the drive from Marietta? If you're craving a specialty such as the pizza-like tlayuda, maybe. (I have never shared other foodies' passion for these nacho prototypes.) Give it a shot and let us know.
